In the field of medical diagnostic systems, a variety of system types are known and are presently in use. In general, diagnostic systems are categorized by modality, the various modalities generally being grouped by the underlying physics involved in acquisition of image data and reconstruction of the data into a useful image. Imaging modalities presently available include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, computed tomography (CT) imaging systems, conventional and digital x-ray systems, positron emission tomography (PET) systems, ultrasound systems, and so forth. In addition to these imaging systems, modem diagnostic facilities often include other diagnostic equipment such as picture archive and communication systems (PACS) for storing digitized images and for retrieving and communicating the images as desired. Medical facilities may include one or more different modality machines, as well as one or more PACS stations. In larger facilities, the modality systems and the PACS stations may be networked to fully integrate work flow.
Due to the demanding schedules often imposed on medical diagnostic systems of the type described above, it is often important that the systems remain in proper working order and available when needed. Accordingly, it has become customary to provide highly trained service personnel for monitoring operation of the diagnostic systems and scheduling servicing of hardware, firmware, and software within the systems to minimize down time. Currently, field service engineers are often in frequent contact with medical institutions for servicing of diagnostic systems, or are available on an as-needed basis. Increasingly, however, it has become desirable to allow field service technicians to address certain service needs remotely, such as through network connections or conventional voice communication with the medical institutions.
In one approach to remote servicing of medical diagnostic systems, an automated service center can be placed in direct communication with subscribing systems, such as via an open network connection or a virtual proprietary network. The automated service center can access operational data from the diagnostic systems and use the data to evaluate the operating state of the systems, as well as to anticipate possible service needs. Information relating to the state of the systems can then be communicated to the institution or to field service engineers through network connections or by telephone.
Remote service arrangements of this type offer distinct advantages over more conventional on-site servicing. For example, they permit the service technicians to more readily access operating state information both at the initiation of the service center and upon request by the medical institution in which the diagnostic system is installed. They also provide a relatively transparent service strategy in which system operators are not required to intervene for the transmission of operational or service data needed to respond to their requests. Similarly, they permit detection of yet unidentified service needs without distracting the medical institution personnel from their normal tasks.
However, there is still need for further improvement in remote service arrangements for medical diagnostic equipment. There is a need, for example, for an improved or streamlined strategy for identifying service request types which can be submitted by field service engineers and used as the basis for acquiring and processing data from the diagnostic systems, such as via an automated service center. Such techniques would greatly enhance the ability of the field service technicians to operate autonomously, while allowing data to be acquired and processed based upon requests from a field service technician without actually requiring the technician to directly contact the diagnostic systems, wait for the data transfer, or to rely on intervention of another service technician at the remote service center, which can result in even greater delay or downtime.